Joe Von Battle
| Joe Von Battle | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Joseph Battle |
| Born |
April 3, 1915 Macon, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | March 27, 1973 (aged 57) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | Gospel, blues, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Record shop owner, record label executive, record producer |
| Years active | 1945–1967 |
| Labels | J.V.B., Battle, Von |
| Associated acts | Rev. C. L. Franklin, John Lee Hooker, Baby Boy Warren, Aretha Franklin, etc. |
Joe Von Battle (born Joseph Battle, April 3, 1915 – March 27, 1973) was an American record store owner and pioneer black record producer in Detroit, Michigan, between the 1940s and 1960s. He set up the J.V.B. and Battle record labels, was one of the first independent black record producers, the first to record Rev. C. L. Franklin and his daughter Aretha Franklin, and influential in the career of John Lee Hooker and other blues musicians.
Battle was born in Macon, Georgia, and trained as a licensed minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He took the name "Von" – which he used as a middle name rather than as part of his surname – from a childhood liking for the films of Erich Von Stroheim; later, he retained it as he felt it gave his name elegance, and encouraged businesses with whom he dealt to think that he was of European rather than African-American descent. He married and had four children before moving to Detroit in the 1930s; he later remarried and had four more children. After being placed for several months in quarantine for suspected tuberculosis, he lost faith in the church while retaining a love of gospel music, and turned to paid employment. He held various jobs in utilities and in the automotive industry, and moved with his family into the Brewster Project near Hastings Street in Detroit.
In 1945, he took up an offer to run a general store at 3530 Hastings Street, and began selling records there from his own collection. As it expanded, the store became Joe's Records, and by the late 1940s he had an inventory of 35,000 records. Battle acquired recording equipment which he set up at the back of the store with a piano, and could also take around local churches. One of his earliest recordings was “Hastings Street Opera”, recorded by "Detroit Count" (Bob White, c.1920–1970). He also established contacts and set up distribution arrangements with other labels, notably Chess Records in Chicago, DeLuxe Records in Cincinnati, and Savoy Records in Newark, who released saxophonist Paul Williams' first hit in 1948, "Thirty-Five Thirty", which took its title from Battle's store address.
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